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Mike Branton, Managing PartnerHowever, this power is being challenged on two fronts: one, making checking more financially productive for the FI and, two staying modern and relevant for today's consumer. According to proprietary research from StrategyCorps, about 35 percent of checking accounts cost FIs more to maintain than they earn in revenue. The reality is most FIs can’t discern which accounts are costing them money and which ones aren't. Plus, they have no product solution that's engaging enough to improve the financial contribution or better retain the financially productive ones.
StrategyCorps helps FIs overcome these challenges with its two linked solutions, CheckingScore and BaZing. CheckingScore is an analytical tool that ranks and segments every single consumer checking account an FI has (on a householded basis) by the revenue generated by those householded relationships. This provides a monetization and ranking of each individual checking account's financial contribution.
Unlike other analytical tools, CheckingScore provides actionable analytics that tie neatly to bottom line performance improvement, which financial institution executives can clearly follow and understand", notes Mike Branton, Managing Partner, StrategyCorps.
This empirical analysis now forms the foundation in which to modernize the checking products by incorporating the customizable mobile rewards solution, BaZing. "Today's consumers want more than undifferentiated, basic checking accounts with just traditional benefits. They want benefits that are more relevant to their mobile lifestyle," added Branton. "That's where BaZing fits in."
Our value to financial institutions is optimizing the financial performance of their retail checking products while increasing the consumer appeal of those products
A $6 billion asset client bank in Texas used CheckingScore and BaZing to standardize, simplify and upgrade their checking line-up after a number of mergers/ acquisitions resulted in hundreds of grandfathered and commonplace checking products. StrategyCorps used the CheckingScore results to reduce the number of account types. BaZing was then tailor made to fit into this line-up to better connect with their customers. The financial results of doing so were increased revenue of over $2 million annually from new deposits, deeper relationships and new recurring customer-friendly income.
“Our value to FIs revolves around a common scenario— the need to optimize the financial performance of the checking line-up by identifying which specific accounts are not productive and which ones are, and then modernizing that line-up with mobile rewards that fix and grow the unproductive ones, protect and grow the productive ones, and providing an appealing, differentiated line-up to attract new customers,” shares Branton.
From a future roadmap perspective, StrategyCorps’ mission is focused on continuing to provide what consumers are demanding that can be effectively delivered as a checking benefit with a great user experience, while also finding more insightful ways to analyze checking data to get this done as financially additive as possible.
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Company
StrategyCorps
Management
Mike Branton, Managing Partner
Description
Offers actionable data analytics on consumer checking portfolios that prescribe detailed checking line-up strategies with modern products that are relevant to today's mobile phone addicted consumers
Headquartered in Nashville, TN, StrategyCorps is a pioneer in checking account optimization and analytics. SC’s innovative approach incorporates third-party reward-based offerings for banks and credit unions paired with CheckingScore® proprietary data analytics. The Company’s solutions enable financial institutions (“FIs”) to offer material benefits to their clients and gain extensive insights into serving clients comprehensively. With its two distinct product offerings, BaZing® and BaZingBiz®, SC successfully serves nearly 300 FI clients, catering to the needs of retail clients and SMBs.
“In the fiercely competitive banking landscape, being the Primary FI hinges on offering relevant products and exceptional service. Our strategic partnership with Estancia positions StrategyCorps to expand rapidly, evolve our top-performing solutions, and help community and regional FIs outshine mega and digital banks. It also accelerates our client’s ability to generate new revenue, countering the decline of traditional checking-related revenue under regulatory pressure,” affirmed Mike Branton, Chairman and CEO of StrategyCorps.
Dana Kurttila, Managing Director at Estancia, stated, “StrategyCorps has a long and proven track record of optimizing and growing retail and small business customer relationships for their FI clients. SC employs its unique approach of combining actionable analytics with modern, enhanced product solutions. We at Estancia are eager and look forward to bringing our experience in financial technology and banking solutions to accelerate growth and enhance the potential of StrategyCorps' solutions in collaboration with SC’s talented team.”
Darrin Jeffries, Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer at Estancia, emphasized, “The alignment of interests between Estancia and SC's management is a key factor in our partnership. We look forward to adding strategic and operational value to SC.”
“In addition to their successful track record as capital partners, Estancia’s approach aligns seamlessly with our culture and corporate values. This alignment is crucial as it ensures that our existing management and strategy stay in place while providing broader ownership opportunities for StrategyCorps employees to reward their performance. Their approach was the difference maker in choosing Estancia versus others we considered,” said Dave Crook, President and Chief Revenue Officer.
The transaction closed on June 28, 2024. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, A Stifel Company (KBW), and Bass Berry Sims (BBS) acted as financial and legal advisors to StrategyCorps, respectively. Estancia selected First Eagle Investments and Andalusian Credit Partners as its capital partners for this investment. Jefferies LLC and Kirkland & Ellis LLP acted as financial and legal advisors to Estancia, respectively.